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Social Security, OIG Expand National Anti-Fraud Program

New Investigative Units Established Across the Country to Prevent Disability Fraud

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 29, 2015

The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced that five new Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Units opened across the country this week. As part of the nationwide CDI Program, the new units will identify and prevent Social Security disability fraud throughout their respective states. The new CDI units opened in Birmingham, Alabama; St. Paul, Minnesota; Raleigh, North Carolina; Charleston, West Virginia; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The CDI Program is one of Social Security’s most successful anti-fraud initiatives, contributing to the integrity of Federal disability programs. CDI brings together personnel from SSA, its OIG, State Disability Determination Services (DDS), and local law enforcement agencies to analyze and investigate suspicious Social Security disability claims, to help resolve questions of fraud before benefits are paid. CDI efforts help disability examiners make informed decisions, ensure payment accuracy, and generate significant taxpayer savings for Federal and State programs.

“I’m excited to see the expansion of Social Security’s collaboration with the OIG in the area of disability fraud investigation and prevention,” said Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “I started the CDI Program in 1997, and these successful units continue to play a critical role in preventing fraud and investigating disability schemes."

The CDI program now consists of 36 units covering 31 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Social Security and its OIG have opened 11 new CDI units since August 2014, as part of an aggressive effort to root out disability fraud and preserve benefits for those who truly deserve them. In addition to the five CDI units opened this week, SSA and its OIG have opened units in Detroit, Michigan (August 2014); Baltimore, Maryland (September 2014); Providence, Rhode Island (January 2015); Little Rock, Arkansas (August 2015); Des Moines, Iowa; and Miami, Florida (both September 2015).

“For 18 years, CDI has had tremendous success in identifying and preventing disability fraud and abuse,” said Inspector General Patrick P. O’Carroll, Jr. “We’re pleased to partner with Social Security, DDS, and local law enforcement agencies to combat fraud and to promote the integrity of Social Security’s disability programs.”

SSA and its OIG jointly established the CDI Program in 1997. Since then, CDI efforts have contributed to $3.2 billion in projected savings to Social Security’s programs, and $2 billion in projected savings to other Federal and State programs. For more information on the CDI Program, click here.

Public citizens who would like to report suspected disability fraud should contact the Social Security Fraud Hotline at http://oig.ssa.gov/report; send U.S. Mail to PO Box 17768, Baltimore, MD, 21235; fax (410) 597-0118; or call (800) 269-0271 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.